Fluke 189 with leaking surface mount supercap (also Fluke 287, Fluke 289)

[serggio]

Three years ago I replased leaked cupercap in my Fluke 287 on Elna DSK-3R3H224U-HL. It still working well and keep time on my meter for four hour. That is enought for recharging Eneloop batteries that I use with my meter. Eneloop is really cool solution for power this meter.
I do not see that supercaps is real issue.

[rauldm]

Hi, I have a 289 rev 15, the fucking meter works very good, but it has corrosion on cap 145, Fluke says in its web site, the 42830001 series it comes with new firmware "1.41", and all meters with  lower serial numbers can't update to this firmware, I supposed the new Fluke, it comes with new PCB board and general improvements, someone knows about this? the cap leakage is solved? another good meter with same features? I have the u1282a, but is slow in cap and ohm modes, the metrawatt is good option? or only is stupid expensive?
Regards.

[mr.fabe]

Hi, I have a 289 rev 15, the fucking meter works very good, but it has corrosion on cap 145, Fluke says in its web site, the 42830001 series it comes with new firmware "1.41", and all meters with  lower serial numbers can't update to this firmware, I supposed the new Fluke, it comes with new PCB board and general improvements, someone knows about this? the cap leakage is solved?

I have a Fluke 289 with FW v1.41 and the serial starts with 3826####.  My 289 was sent in for repair for the low ohms fade issue in January 2019.  Fluke replaced the board and calibrated the unit prior to shipping it back.  I asked about the supercap issue in the original work order and was told that is was no longer a problem.

[rauldm]

Hi, I have a 289 rev 15, the fucking meter works very good, but it has corrosion on cap 145, Fluke says in its web site, the 42830001 series it comes with new firmware "1.41", and all meters with  lower serial numbers can't update to this firmware, I supposed the new Fluke, it comes with new PCB board and general improvements, someone knows about this? the cap leakage is solved?

I have a Fluke 289 with FW v1.41 and the serial starts with 3826####.  My 289 was sent in for repair for the low ohms fade issue in January 2019.  Fluke replaced the board and calibrated the unit prior to shipping it back.  I asked about the supercap issue in the original work order and was told that is was no longer a problem.

The first board with ohms issues, do you know what revision number was?
Your new board you know what revision is?
if Fluke puts new firmware from 42830001 meter series I think your new board is last revision.

Really I searched another sustitute for this meter, but I think another meter is not gathed all features for same price range.

Thanks for your answer, really I like this meter, I have 87v,28ii and 117, but this meter for me is better than others, even my others meter are just complement for my 289.

[mr.fabe]

In the meter info screen, the Board ID was 3 and was built on 6-26-10 with FW v1.16 / v.88.

My replacement Board ID is 5, built on  11-28-17 with FW v1.41 / v.88.

I noticed on the RMA that the serial # remained the same.  Fluke probably just updated the number in the board for administrative purposes.

Service was fantastic from Fluke. One email and a phone call to resolve the defect.  I bought my meter used on ePray for a great price and Fluke covered it under warranty. No hassles, new meter with calibration certificate.  Can't beat that.

Yikes!  I just realized the same info you requested is in a previous post #299 by me.  My memory is failing...

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

[rauldm]

Ok, fluke eliminates the capacitor 145 on new board? How solves the problem? New firmware has it improves?

[mr.fabe]

I don't know what is on the new board but was told by Fluke that the supercap problem is not an issue.  I have no reason to doubt Fluke and if there were a problem with losing the date/time then it would be covered under warranty.  The supercap problem is a few years old and Fluke mentions that they were going to make changes on future revisions of the 287/289.

[rauldm]

I talked with Fluke support about this capacitor, I attached datasheet of capacitor.  In datasheet it comes this:
1.- Re-flow soldering method available (250 °C)
Note : 1. When the capacitor is being used in a high temperature and high humidity environment for a long period, brown deposited
materials might be found around the sealing area. However, the materials are insulators and will not affect any electrical
characteristics of the capacitor.
2. Do not use refl ow soldering when cell voltage is above 0.3 V.

Really I dont know is or not recomendable an user change this capacitor, I think a meter is a tool in that you trust your life, if you don't doing the procedure correctly perhaps will not be trustworthy again.

[CDaniel]

The model 187 doesn't have that supercap fitted ... so it is just for not losing the logging data when the batteries are consumed . A user that doesn't do logging every day could use the meter ( at least 189 ) very well with that cap just removed if it goes bad .

[BravoV]

2. Do not use refl ow soldering when cell voltage is above 0.3 V.

Hmm ... the devil is in the details isn't it ?

I guess the manufacturers need to babysit short the cap before hand if use reflow method. 

Learned something today, thanks. 

[Marco1971]

@ Electro

This is too complicated for nothing,  a new supercap at 2-4 $ usd and voila, your troubles goes a way for a long time

Not much long time...two and half years for me and my Fluke 287.

Marco1971

[paddyred]

Anyone know what the difference is on these new 289 boards? Rev5? I just sent mine in for repair after the supercap issue (produced 2016) and fluke just sent me a BNIB one with new leads, accessories and all the trimmings. New one made August 2020. 

[Xandinator]

Unfortunately haven't been so lucky with their customer service. Another 289 confirmed working w/o cap tho.

[rivest]

Fluke 189 working without cap here.

[DarkskyZ]

Hi there, just a quick first post here after reading about everything about this supercap mess on these Flukes. This particular post made me act on it and I am glad I did.

I got my 289 second hand for around 200€ about 2 years ago as I needed some recording capability for a one time job. I am using it on my bench ever since as a very nice bit of kit.
But there is no way I would agree to pay Fluke France 316.5€ + 30€ for S/H they are asking for a repair while in the mean time they told me that "lifetime warranty" is only available to original owner.

I also like (not) how their definition of " lifetime" is their own view on what lifetime is. 

So... the DIY, soldering iron way I went. It has been an easy 2 minutes job with easy access to the soldering points even for me being less than competent with a soldering iron in hand. 

I prefer to have peace of mind with this thing not leaking all over inside the meter even if that means having to set date and time from time to time.

Anyway, thank you all for confirming that a 289 doesn't need to have its supercap to work fine. That made me confident to remove it and I confirm it just works. 

[BeBuLamar]

If removing the super cap means that it would lose time when you remove the AA batteries then it's not a problem. The date and time only needed when you do the recording.

[DarkskyZ]

Yes, that is all there is to it.
Except for hardcore everyday logging people that is not a problem.
I would assume those people probably don’t rely on battery operated meters anyway so, to me at least, that supercap (when working and not leaking) is more of a convenience than a need.

[BeBuLamar]

Lukily my 289 (2017) and 287(2022) don't have the leaky capacitor yet. But if it ever does I would simply remove the cap. I got the new 287 because someone beat the hell out of one of the 287's in the company I worked for. My boss had it laying in the junk box so I asked him to give it to me. I sent it in to Fluke and they gave me the brand new one under warranty.

[Electro Detective]

Revisiting this post:

As previously stated, in peaved frustration, and willing to reset clocks on AA battery changes, I removed the superCRAPicitors from both Fluke 189 and 289 two years ago,
and they have been flawless.

I forgot about it till I came across this post.

Seriously folks, either fit a new capacitor, or lose the bearded leaky one,
or.. leave it in there at your risk 
and toss coins the meter does not go weird with a shorted or halfass behaving cap stressing the meter's smarts. Your call 


I sincerely thank the many members who commented across many posts about this so that I could make up my mind which way to roll back then

The Disclaimer is just because my quick fix hacknique worked for me, YMMV

These meters are absolute keepers for me, especially now that I don't leave AA batteries in there during non use periods to leak!


Surely there's a special lake in Hell for battery industry bean counters, and their shareholder dividend junkies